F 291 
C69 

»py i THE REPRODUCTION 



-OF— 



THE HORSE AND THE MULE 



A new discovery; 

Embracing the Causes of Failures, on the part of 

Mares, to get with Foal, and the Means by 

which such Failures may re Avoided. 

—AND— 

Giving Directions by which Foals may he Secured 
,V . in the Majority of Cases, by the First 
Leaf of the Stallion or Jack. 

—designed— 

For the Benefit of all Persons Engaged in the Rearing 
of Horses and Mules. 



—BY— j/ 

GUSTAVUS H. COLEMAN, 

Naturalist and Farmer. 






SF^ 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1881, by 

Gustavus H. Coleman, in the office of the 

Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 






PREFACE. 

Every person who has any experience in (lie reproduction 
and rearing of horses and mules will attest the tact that, of 
every one hundred mares annually bred, about thirty or 
forty fail to get with foal. It is also a well known fact 
!that the large majority of mares annually bred are brought 
in connection repeatedly with the stallion or the jack, when 
only one connection is necessary in order to secure a foal, if 
in accordance with the secret laws of animal reproduction. 
These losses and disadvantages arc the result of ignorance 
and consequent lack of conformity to the secret laws of an- 
imal reproduction. But very few. if any. of the many per- 
sons engaged in this branch of business know that the 
mare is more apt to concei ve'upon any one day of the sex- 
ual heat than she is upon other days. Yet such is the fact. 
There are certain days during the heat of the mare when 
she will almost invariably conceive, and there are other 
days of the heat when she will almost invariably fail to 
conceive. The breeding of mares upon wrong days of* the 
heat, and the overstraining of stallions and jacks, are the 
causes to which the above losses and disadvantages are to 
be mainly attributed. 

I have studied this subject in a scientific and experimen- 
tal way for a number of years, and 1 am now able to give 
directions by which nearly all failures may be avoided, and 
foals secured in a large majority of cases by the first leap of 
the stallion or the jack. I now publish the result of my 
researches for the benefit of my eotemporaries in this 
branch of business. 

AUTHOR. 



NECESSITY OF IMPROVEMENT IN THE MAN- 
AGEMENT OF STALLIONS, JACKS AND 
MAKES IN BREEDING. 

The fact that the course which is pursued tit the present 
day, in the management of stallions, jacks and mares in 
breeding, has escaped scientific research and has prevailed 
for centuries is no argument that it can not be and ought 
not to be improved. An improvement is much needed, not 
only to avoid the failures which occur on the part of about 
thirty-tive or forty mares of every one hundred mares 
which are annually bred, but also to' prevent the necessity 
of the practice of bringing mares in connection with the 
stallion or the jack repeatedly. Every person knows, or 
should know, that only one connection between the male 
and female, throughout the whole animal kingdom, is nee- 
cessary to reproduction if the laws of reproduction are com- 
plied with. Nature, throughout all her departments, 
involves fixed laws, and we succeed or fail in all our pur- 
suits which are in any way connected with nature accord- 
ingly as we understand the laws of nature and conform to 
them. The reason why this improvement has not been 
made before is that the matter has never been carefully 
studied and experimented upon in the light of science. 

While I admit that all rules have their exceptions, and 
that there is no rule or set of rules that will cover all cases, 
yet, by conformity to the directions given in this work, the 
many failures which now occur upon the part of mares to 
get with foal may be nearly all avoided, and foals may be 
secured, in the majority of cases, by the first leap of the 
stallion or the jack. This woidd render the business of 
rearing horses and mules far more successful and profitable. 
It would render stallions and jacks far more profitable to 
their owners. It would also result in a great saving of 
time to owners of mares. 



REPRODUCTION—ITS NATURE, NECESSITY 
AND DESIGN. 

Reproduction is that property with which every plant in 
the vegetable kingdom and every animal in the animal 
kingdom was endowed in the beginning for their perpetuity 
and increase. It is that principle which connects the myr- 



3 

iads of plants anil animals now upon the earth with the 
parent stocks of every variety which were created in the 
beginning. Had this provision in the laws of nature never 
existed, the vegetable and animal kingdoms would have 
perished with the parent stocks and only the gaseous and 
mineral kingdoms would have continued to exist. 

There are two kinds of reproduction, viz: vegetable 
reproduction and animal reproduction. The reader thor- 
oughly understands all the conditions involved in the 
reproduction of the plant. Tie knows the necessary condi- 
tions of warmth and moisture for the sprouting of the seed 
and the growth of the plant. He knows that if the seed be 
planted when the ground is too cold or too dry or too damp, 
the latent germ or embryo will not grow, and that the seed 
will fail to reproduce a new plant. These conditions are 
thoroughly understood by the farmer. Therefore he knows 
when and how to plant so as to depend upon certain success 
in the reproduction of a new plant. 

Reproduction in the animal kingdom, like reproduction 
in the vegetable kingdom, involves fixed laws and condi- 
tions. The reason why certain success in the reproduction 
of the colt can not be depended upon is that the laws ami 
conditions of animal reproduction are more complicated, 
and therefore they are not understood and obeyed. 



THE MALE PRINCIPLE OF REPRODUCTION. 

Unlike vegetable reproduction, animal reprod uction in- 
volves the union of two principles, viz: the male and the 
female principles. The male principle is known by the 
name of semen. Though nearly all persons are acquainted 
with the appearance and some other characteristics of semen, 
vet but very few have any correct idea of its reproductive 
functions. It has been discovered by the use of the micro- 
scope that semen, or the thick, ropy part thereof, consists 
of innumerable living, moving specks of matter called sem- 
inal animalcules. These animalcules are invisible to the 
naked eye and are so very small that there are thousands of 
them in a particle of semen not larger than a grain of mus- 
.tard seed. Each of these invisible seminal animalcules is 
the male principle, and is sufficient for the formation of the 
germ or embryo of the future animal, when brought in con- 



nection with the female principle in the womb of the 
female. 



THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE OF REPRODUCTION. 

It is a well known fact among scientists that all animals 
come from an ovum or egg. The ovum or e^ is the female 
principle involved in the formation of the germ of the fu- 
ture animal. The egg is produced in the female by an 
organ denominated the ovaria or egg bag. This organ is 
connected with the womb by two ducts or canals called ovi- 
ducts. It consists of two lobes and performs a function 
similar to that, of the, testes or stones of the male, the 
former producing the female principle and the latter' pro- 
ducing the male principle of animal reproduction. 

The ovaria is the organ which is cut out of domestic ani- 
mals in the process of spaying. Domestic animals remain 
barren, after being spayed, because thev cannot produce 
any more eggs. The eix^ varies in size in "different animals, 
being larger in fowls than in any other part of the animal' 
creation. In the higher orders of animals it is generallv 
very small. In the human female, when the ^ is emitted 
from the ovaria and (Miters the canal of the oviduct it is so 
small as to be scarcely perceptible. Among other animals 
it is proportionately small, according to their size. The 
eggs are emitted from the ovaria, at regular periods of time^ 
which vary in different animals. Among the higher orders 
of animals the eggs are emitted at regular periods of time, a 
month apart. Impregnation and conception are brought 
about by the contact or union of one of the seminal animal- 
cules of male semen with the e^u; of the female in the 
womb. Hence there can be no conception unless both prin- 
ciples are united in the womb of the female. 



THE SEXUAL HEAT OF THE MARE. 

The ^'^ after being emitted from the ovaria, passes 
through the canal of the oviduct into the womb. This 
passage req uires a certain length of time, which varies in 
different animals. My observation in the breeding of mares 
leads me to believe that the passage of the egg through the 
oviduct into the womb generally requires about two days. 



The beat of the mare commences about the time the egg is 
emitted from the ovaria and, as a general rule, continues 
six or seven days. The egg generally enters the womb 
about two days after the heat commences and remains in 
the womb about two days, and if not impregnated it then 
passes out and is ejected" from the system. 



CAUSES OF FAILURES ON THE PART OF MARES 
TO GET WITH FOAL. 



There are several occasional causes of failures, to which a 
very few of the failures may be attributed; but there are 
only two main causes. There are a very few mares that are 
in some way defective in their reproductive organs, and will 
not breed under Any circumstances. I have one of this kind 
myself. Mares are more liable to fail when bred to jacks 
than when bred to stallions, because it is crossing the breed. 
Excessive fat on the part of the female is an obstacle to re- 
production throughout the whole animal kingdom. I have 
noticed that China sows are not near so prolific as sows of 
other breeds, because they are nearly always excessively fat. 
Very fat hens lay but very few eggs. Very fat mares are 
more liable to fail to produce colts than when kept in an or- 
dinary state of flesh. While a very few of the failures may 
be attributed to the above causes, the large majority are due 
to the mismanagement of stallions, jacks and mares in breed- 
ing; either to the overstraining of stallions and jacks, by 
which their efficiency is impaired, or to the breeding of 
mares on wrong days of the heat, when the egg is not in the 
womb. 



DIRECTIONS FOR THE PROPER MANAGEMENT 
OF MARES IN BREEDING. 

This chapter and the one that follows are of the greatest 
importance, as the success of both the owners of stallions 



and jacks and The owners of mares depends upon proper 
management in breeding. 

Persons who have the management of mares in breeding 
should not allow them to become too fat, because excessive 
fat upon the part of the female is an obstacle to reproduc- 
tion. They should have their mures bred to the stallion or 
the jack upon the third day of the heat, because the egg is 
invariably in the womb, in a proper condition for impregna- 
tion, on the third day of the heat. The commencement of 
the neat may he easily discovered, by watching the condition 
of the mare from day to day through the breeding season. 
About the time the heat commences the outward sexual 
organ presents the appearance of looseness and slight en- 
largement. A small clot of bloody mucus, caused from the 
bursting of the egg through the thin membrane of the 
ovaria, may he seen adhering to the lower end of the outer 
sexual organ at the time of the commencement of the heat. 
This denotes that the egg has been emitted from the ovaria 
and has entered the canal of the oviduct. About the same 
time the restlessness, ranting and neighing, the squealing and 
pawing of the mare when brought in contact with other 
horses, become noticeable as unmistakable signs of the com- 
mencement of the heat. Counting the day upon which these 
signs commence as the first day, the mare should be bred 
upon the third day of the heat. This is the day upon which 
1 have my mares bred, and I scarcely ever have to put them 
the second time, and when I do have to put them the second 
time I suppose that it is to be attributed to mismanagement 
of the stallion or the jack. 



DIRECTIONS FOR THE PROPER MANAGEMENT 
OF STALLIONS AND JACKS. 

Upon the proper management of stallions and jacks, also, 
depends to a great extent the success of both the owners of 
stallions and jacks and the owners of mares. If stallions 
and jacks be mismanaged, mares may fail to conceive when 
bred upon proper days of the heat, when the egg is in the 
womb, in a .suitable condition for impregnation. 'Care should 
be taken in the way of feeding, watering, currying and exer- 
cising moderately, in order to keep them in a good state of 
tiesh, and full of rich blood, as it is from the blood that the 



semen is produced. If stallions and jacks are mismanaged 
and overstrained, their efficiency is proportionately im- 
paired. Mares frequently fail in consequence of this ineffic- 
iency. There are, also, many inferior colts, horses and 
mules in consequence of this inefficiency upon the part o! 
stallions and jacks, caused from overstraining Stallions 
and jacks should be worked or ridden but Very little, only 
enough to afford sufficient exercise for health and vigor. 

Two mares each day are as many as any stallion or jack 
can serve efficiently. If not under four years old, nor oyer 
ten years old, thev can perform two services a day efficiently 
provided they are allowed four hours between services, 
for rest and restoration of their sexual vigor and efficiency ; 
but if under four years old, or over ten years old, they 
should not be allowed to perform more than one service each 

' 'Managers of stallions and jacks should give the following 
notice to their patrons in their advertisements, viz.: 

All persons who patronize my stallion or jack (as the case 
may be) are required to strictly conform to the following 
directions, viz.: , 

Observe the condition of your mares closely trom day 

Note the time of the commencement of their heat, and 
bring them to my stallion or jack upon the third day ot 
the heat. 



ADVANTAGES TO BE GAINED BY CONFORMITY 
TO THE FOREGOING DIRECTIONS. 

By conformity to the foregoing directions, seventy-five 
mares of everv one hundred annually bred to stallions would 
would conceive upon the first leap of the stallion. Seventy 
of every one hundred mares annually bred to jacks would 
conceive upon the first leap of the jack. The remainder, m 
both cases, would nearly all conceive upon the second leap 
of the stallion or the jack. It is safe to say that there would 
not be more than five failures to produce colts out of every- 
one hundred mares annually bred. This would render stal- 
lions and jacks far more profitable to their owners. It would 
insure better colts in many cases than are now produced. It 
would render the business of rearing horses and mules more 



s 

successful and profitable to those engaged in it. It would' 
also, result ma great saving of time to owners of mares m 
the wavoi only having to go ^ith their mares to the stal- 
lion or jack one time in the large majority of cases. Where- 
as, under the erroneous course now pursued marcs h»W fn 
be put to the stallion or the jack repeatedly in " V«4 m£ 
jority of cases and the]! thirty-five or forty of every orte 
hundred annually bred fail to produce colts. * • 



REASONS FOR PUBLICATION. 

Having devoted a considerable portion of mv time through 
life to farming and stock raising, the evils andXXant 
ages mentioned in this pamphlet attracted iiv ittentio ." 
years H go, and r set about investigating thei causes audde 
vising means by which they might be remedied A el v" 
ji thorough knowledge of natural science, I lave suceleded 
in accomplishing this task. I consider mv discm en a va h 
able application of science to prHcticallS^^ftwS 
vastly increase the productive power of la r in the branc 

">o> ro myselt and my fellowman for me to publish it. 

AUTHOR. 



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